British Canoeing – great coach education through professional standards
We’ve recently been talking to Lee Pooley, Director of Coaching & Qualifications at British Canoeing about their recognition as a National Governing Body (NGB), their strategic plan and the importance of their workforce and professional standards.
Lee has been involved within the outdoor industry and specifically paddlesport for over 30 years, initially guiding expeditions across the globe, then moving to deliver both Further and Higher Education programmes in Sports Science and Outdoor Education.
Lee is responsible for all regulated and non regulated qualifications and educational programmes across an exciting and diverse landscape. More recently Lee’s focus has been on Stand Up Paddleboard safety, qualifications and National Governing Body status, of which British Canoeing was recognised by the Sports Council in February 2023.
Lee said
“British Canoeing is already into our 2022-2026 strategic plan with a clear purpose of encouraging everyone to go paddling; for enjoyment, health, challenge and achievement.
Throughout our strategy we have four themes; equality, diversity and inclusion, environment and sustainability, health, wellbeing and safety, and partnerships.
Our strategy sets out some ambitious but achievable targets in which we aim;
- To engage recreational paddlers and attracting new paddlers,
- Increase membership and improve member services,
- Promote access, places to paddle and environmental awareness, support clubs and delivery partners,
- Develop and supporting coaches, leaders, instructors and guides,
- Develop and support volunteers,
- Develop talent and achieving international success,
- Provide excellent championships, competitions and events,
- Focus on governance, people, equality and sustainability and
- Improve digital services and communication.
Our workforce is incredibly important for us to realise these ambitions. Anyone who has a role in supporting or providing opportunities for those who want to get onto the water plays a significant role. At British Canoeing we recognise this and invest a significant amount of capacity and resource in ensuring we can support their learning and development. Such support includes regular reviews of our qualification and award suite, creating guidance and advice for those on the ‘coal face’ as well as providing high quality resources such as eLearning, research papers, podcasts and videos.”
We also asked Lee about British Canoeing’s role as an Awarding Organisation,
“Being a regulated Awarding Organisation recognised by Ofqual, Qualification Wales and the Council for the Curriculum Examination Assessment, provides us a framework that reassures those engaging with our qualifications and products that they are of a high quality and complies to the robust compliance requirements from the regulators. Quality assurance and standardisation are high priorities of ours, ensuring anyone that attends a training course or assessment that they receive and experience the same as anyone else accessing our qualifications across the UK and internationally.”
Lee also shared the value of British Canoeing’s relationship with CIMSPA,
“Being in partnership with CIMSPA provides us with a link into the wider sector, and a seat at the table that enables us to contribute and influence direction. It also opens up opportunities to work alongside other awarding organisations, sharing experiences and insight to support the way we operate as a regulated body.
I really do see the benefit of having role alignment across the wider sector, providing further recognition of the roles, qualifications and learning that individuals have engaged. Over the past few years we have mapped all our regulated qualifications and safeguarding courses which have been endorsed by CIMSPA. British Canoeing recognises that there are many learners who engage with our qualifications and awards, work across the wider industry and that many core functions cross over into other areas of their responsibility, having the opportunity to have this acknowledged and to reduce duplication, recognises the individual’s understanding, skill and experience.”
Find out more about British Canoeing here: https://www.britishcanoeing.org.uk/